I have been looking all over. Back in 1992 I started dating a girl who's dad had one just like it. He was selling it. I had the money but was into jetski's. I kick myself now for not buying it!!!!! It hung around, knew the guy that ended up with it. Ran into him last year and asked him about it. "OH, I sold that 2 months ago for $500.00." I was floored! wished he had called me!

Not sure if I have seen the one in Dayton........... Been looking all over.

Hi and let me say you’ve chosen a fantastic place to bring the hobie…I grew up on the emerald coast in Panama City and went to college just west of Destin in Pensacola. I can tell you without a doubt that one of the best sailing areas probably in the world is Santa Rosa Sound. Helped a buddy bring his dads sailboat from panama city to their new home on the sound…what a great trip.

If you can get west of Ft Walton, try a day trip through the sound, over to Pensacola…”The Boardwalk” is just before the bridge in pcola, has all sorts of great eats and shops, plenty of sandy beach to pull up to etc…make sure to visit Key Sailing the local hobie dealer…right there on the sand in the middle of the action, with a great restaurant upstairs.

There are consistent seabreazes that can put you on a reach through the sound, on the coastal side is national seashore, so it gives a great wilderness/exploration feeling. If I remember, it was once a top 20 sailing destination (usa / world…idk)

That’s a 40 mile trip each way, but you could instead just go to Navarre for lunch and head back to Destin…but Navarre is very desolate compared to pcola’s boardwalk or destin/ft Walton….or maybe that’s what you’d like

I’d like to take a camping trip from Panama City to Destin (via the gulf) for the night, then to Pcola the next day (via santa rosa sound). Camping on the beach is illegal, so hehe I wonder if I could ‘anchor’ in 1” of water just inside the destin harbor lol.

When we helped moved my friend’s boat, we arrived after nightfall, pulled up to the yacht club dock…we were 5-6 guys with no plan, just thought we’d sneak a berth for the night. Well, a security guard walked up, asked to speak to the ‘captain’ <snicker> we just pointed at Harry….thought we were getting booted, but all he wanted was the name of the boat and name of the captain, and said “you guys have a good night”…Free Trainsient slip at the destin yacht club…that was nice….we had no dingy…

We arrived on Monday and since we couldnt check in, we went straight to the Gulf Shore Park and put in. Since it was really our first time on the boat in any wind, we just took it easy and got acclimated. My wife was starting to warm up to this sailing thing!

My parents came in on Tuesday- they owed a hobie in the late 70's when they first got married and hearing their stories my whole life was what has made me want a Hobie.

We got to the bay around 10 and got the boat rigged. Dad and i went out and cpsized the boat to practice righting it. With him at the helm was my first time on the trapeze. What a rush when you fly hull too high!!! Then came the capsize and catching the shroud on my leg- what a bruise now! Got the boat around int he wind and righted without much drama. Now that I had the confidence, it was time to have fun!!

We proceeded to sail all day Wed and Thursday with great winds that built to 20-25 both days. Once my wife went on the wire and in the air, she is now hooked and seems to be thinking about sailing as much as I am!! We even were able to figure out both getting on the wire together.

One note- I was wanting to know how fast we were sailing. I found the greatest app ever- "GPS Speed Tracker" You can start a track and it will record your course, speed, Max Speed, Avg Speed, distance, etc. I put the phone is a Pelican case clipped to the tramp. What we got shocked us. Multiple trips that we hit 19-20 Mph and even averaged 12 mph over an hour trip. How does this sound to compare to what this boat should be capable of with 20+ winds and only about 170lb crew weight?

Thanks for all the input, we are now searching for some good lakes close to Chattanooga that have better wind and maybe even some more active sailors.

Will try to post pics soon

Oh yeah- Only bad part of the trip was coming up I-59 in one lane construction and watching the shrouds and trap wires come untied and fall off the back of the tramp. By the time I could pull over, it was too late, they had already hit the pavement and were mangled Well, I had been figuring I should put new standing rigging since I didn;t knwo how old it was.

Thanks Tim, we had a great time out in the bay on Saturday. Spent a few hours at Crab Island and the rest running around the bay dodging boats. I did get one hell of a lesson that day. We were trying to sail around the south side of Crab Island parallel to the Destin Bridge, the wind direction had me pinched up pretty tight to the weather trying to steer away from the bridge. In addition the tide and current were moving out of the bay slowly pushing me into the bridge. I realized as I passed the last opportunity to go under the bridge that I wasn't gonna make it. I was trying to figure out how I was gonna save my Girlfriend, my Dog and my boat when I finally got the attention of a boater who threw me a line and pulled me away from the bridge with about five feet to spare. If I ever meet him again dinner is on me or at least a cold Beer! The rest of the day was uneventful as well as Sunday when we made it out for another afternoon of sailing. I can't say enough how much I enjoy this sport and can't wait for next weekend.